Transcending Our Realities
by Akemi Nishijou
Summary: [Chrno Crusade Crossover, post-FMA Anime and CC manga] At age sixteen, Edward Elric had faced a life-altering situation. Two years and a dangerous promise later, the answers to his questions are beginning to surface. (Ch. 2 updated)
1. Default Chapter

Note: This is a crossover with Chrno Crusade (Don't let that stop you from reading!) and is filled with spoilers from the FMA anime and the CC manga. Do NOT read if you haven't seen all of FMA.

Transcending Our Realities

Act.1-Home

Munich, 1923

The streets were bursting with silent energy as people walked through them, running here or there to get chores done or to visit or whatever. Edward Elric was with them, currently carrying a stack of books. He was used to running random errands. Actually, to be more exact, he looked forward to them.

Two years had passed since he had gone through the Gate and into this world, and he was still searching for a way back, any way back. The first method, rockets, had failed miserably but in the end, he gained a companion who happened to look exactly like his brother back home. After that incident, there didn't seem to be much of a way, until about a year ago. A year ago he had made a promise with a friend and despite it's depth and danger, it seemed to provide an opening. That promise was one that went deeper than anyone would think, or understand.

He heard footsteps behind him, and then a crash. Hearing that, he turned around, golden eyes focusing on the figure that was now on the ground. "Az?" The pale pink-haired girl looked up at him after he called her name, and then back down at her bags, the contents now spread out on the street in an odd mishmash.

"It's ok, I just dropped these," she said hurriedly, picking up the various items. The golden-hared boy kneeled down to help her, setting his books beside him in a neat stack as he did so. "At least nothing's broken." she said wth a smile as she lifted the bag again. "Thanks, Edward." He picked up his books again and nodded as they continued along their way, back to the place they called home.

As usual, there was news about the world in general, but nothing of importance. He heard, in passing, various conversations about political events. None of those things concerned him much; that wasn't a part of what he was searching for. So far, it had been two years since 'that day,' and a year since something significant happened. That thought in itself was enough to discourage anyone, especially Edward.

The one comfort of this world was his two friends. Despite his attempts to set up a wall around himself, they had broken it down. One of these friends looked exactly like someone close to him, and the other, Azmaria Hendric, was a friend he had met by chance. Ironically, Az was the one he had grown to spend the most time around. Of course, there was a reason for it; it wasn't love, and it wasn't obligation. This reason was something more serious than that.

* * *

"We're home!" Azmaria shouted out, making an attempt to open the door. Edward grinned and shook his head at her.

"Your hands are full." He used a free hand to open the door and she nodded a 'thank you' before entering the house and placing her bag on the table.

"Al?" Ed entered the room as well and saw Alphonse Heiderich, head down on the table, asleep. Al was the other friend, and the one that looked like someone close to him. To be exact, he resembled Alphonse Elric, his brother. The blonde-haired boy didn't even move as the two stared at him, then at each other, and grinned.

"Hey, Al, wake up." Ed poked the boy a few times, which elicited no response. He set the books down and resorted to shaking him. That was enough to cause Al to sit upright, a panicked look on his face.

"Don't-Wait…" He blinked at a now-laughing Azmaria and then glanced over at Ed. "Was I sleeping?" When his question was greeted by a nod, he groaned and closed the book he had been resting on. "Sorry, I must have dozed off while reading…"

"Al? Is something wrong?" Azmaria was the first to notice Al's worried expression. He simply shook his head, but Ed sighed. It was probably a dream about the past again, that seemed to bother him greatly. The young man stood, eyes focused on a random point on the book he had been reading. "You should sleep some more, you keep overworking yourself…"

"You sound like a mother right now." Edward crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, putting on a falsely irritated expression. He heard her mumble something and then walk out of the room.

"You know, Edward, it would be helpful if you stopped acting so jealous…" Alphonse's words came slowly and emotionlessly. That was just enough to set Edward off.

"Hey, who said I was jealous!" Anger flashed in his eyes and Alphonse just stared.

"It's obvious. I've been jealous, too, Edward." Any and all replies Ed thought of in reply to that sounded childish and defenseless, so he kept his mouth shut. There was a momentary silence before the subject was abruptly changed.

"What book is that?" He flipped it over, taking a look at the cover. "Wait…_Alchemy_! Al, what are you-No, _why_ are you…Gah, alchemy is dead here, why are you reading a book on it, and more importantly, _where_ did it come from?" Ed couldn't deny the fact that this was a shock. It was beyond him why Alphonse would be studying this, and so he was hoping for a legitimate answer. Another thought quickly passed his mind. "Well, maybe Alchemy isn't technically dead, but you wouldn't do anything stupid like I did…"

"I wanted to see this situation from your point of view, I guess." The expression on his face was unreadable, but leaned close to confusion. "Or…Azmaria hasn't told you yet?" At this point, his voice was shaking slightly, as if he were about to divulge some giant secret. Edward braced himself for the worst-case scenario, which was that Alphonse had gotten himself in a situation like the one that he and Azmaria were in. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. "We're leaving here tomorrow, to go to London."

Maybe it wasn't the worst-case scenario, but it was still very questionable and shocking. "Wait, _WHAT?_ Why are we-" Ed was promptly cut off by the other person.

"That's where you were when you first came into this world, correct?" His voice suddenly got much softer. "Edward, we've been waiting for answers for two years now, and we're still not any closer than we were. We need to start moving onward if we want to learn anything."

Edward knew why Alphonse was slightly afraid of the subject. In truth, they were all afraid of the day that Edward Elric went back to Amestris, back home. Yes, Ed would be happy to see his friend again, and possibly, hopefully his brother, but there was still fear embedded inside him somewhere. What would happen to his friends here? That was the initial reason he had tried to cut himself off; he knew that this would happen.

"You're right," Edward said after a bit of thought. "We need to keep searching."

"Um, actually, it was Azmaria's idea. My idea involved trying to break the time barrier, although I'm not sure one really exists…" He trailed off and Ed laughed. Science-oriented Alphonse always tried to make sense of something using his profession. Needless to say, it wasn't always the best of ideas. They weren't the worst either. The worst yet had resulted in a can filled with peanuts bursting into flames, but that was a story that was not going to be told ever again.

"You still both worked on it." Edward smiled and the other boy smiled back, albeit sadly. He decided not to ask what was bothering him so much. Instead, something else came up in his mind. "I'm not jealous."

"Yes you are," Alphonse said automatically, not even looking up at him.

"No I'm not!" He groaned and walked into the other room. "Azmaria, Al told me your secret!" The girl looked over at him, and he grinned. She sat blushing for a moment, confused, and then she smiled back as the realization dawned on her.

"Oh, that!" The confused look turned into a happy one as she looked at Ed. "We're, um, leaving in the morning…" He nodded, smiling at her with understanding.

"Hey, um…thanks." The boy didn't say much else as he exited the room and started up to his room. At least he had done a good job hiding his real feelings. Yes, he wanted to go back home, but at the same time he felt horrible. Maybe there was just too much going through his mind.

He sat down on his bed and slowly removed his shirt, letting the metal arm reveal itself. This was his biggest secret; only Azmaria and Alphonse knew about the automail. Actually, if it weren't for them he wouldn't _have_ automail anymore. They had somehow manipulated their own technology, fusing it with what he had to create automail suitable for this world. The downside was that it was slightly heavier and not as moveable, but it got the job done.

As it moved, the automail made a slight squeaking noise. Edward blinked at it and snatched a small object off the desk. It just needed oil, that's all. He repaired it slowly and moved it again. This time around, there was no squeak, only silence. "Azmaria, Alphonse, you two try your best…" he trailed off into silence again, staring up at the sky.

Azmaria's voice was faintly heard from somewhere beyond the door, and Edward flopped down on the bed, smothering his face with a pillow. No, this wasn't jealousy, this was just guilt. He had been feeling that a lot lately. Guilt at leaving everyone he loved behind, guilt at the fact he would have to leave these new friends behind, maybe even guilt at himself for letting them break the walls he had set up around him.

Now he was being given a chance to search for a way back to the things he had lost and he was ready to decline it. That's how far it had gotten. Of course, his friends would do whatever it took to get him on that train tomorrow. That meant going as far as removing his automail in his sleep so that he would have no choice. Actually, that most likely wouldn't happen but they were still unpredictable in that way.

"Edward?" the door opened slowly but he didn't remove the pillow. He felt Azmaria it down next to him and finally moved the pillow down to his bare chest, realizing that he was sweating a bit. "Erm, I'm sorry for pulling that up on you so fast. I just didn't want you protesting because you would have." Damn, how did she figure these things out?

"No, it's okay." He knew his expression said otherwise. Their eyes locked and he looked away, cheeks red from embarrassment. He wasn't embarrassed for being caught shirtless or locking eyes with her, it was more that he was embarrassed about his own real feelings about what was going to happen.

There was another long silence and Azmaria took out a pocket watch, inspecting it with silent eyes. It took resistance to keep Edward from reaching out and touching it himself. "She really is a creature of habit…" The words were soft, referring to something that only a few people knew about.

"If it worked for Chrono, then I guess she figured that it would work for us…" There was light laughter and then the two fell silent, true emotions bursting inside them.

"I'm scared." The words came simultaneously. The girl gripped the pocket watch tightly and Edward stared at her. He was the first to speak.

"I think we're all scared, but I don't want you or Al getting into this."

"Edward…" She dropped the pocket watch into his hands. "It's too late for that. Besides, we're old enough, we can all take care of ourselves. Al and I are seventeen and you're eighteen. Rosette was in this situation when she was sixteen." The girl smiled at him.

"Still." The girl's expression was unchanging as she spoke up again.

"We don't know what's up ahead, that's how it was for me before we met." She stood up again, and it was Edward's turn to clutch the watch. "Once you acknowledge that you're scared, you can begin to move forward, right?"

"You're right…" He felt better slightly as he listened to her. it was normal for them to talk to each other like this when one or the other was feeling discouraged. Now it was Azmaria's turn to talk to him. "Then we should 'move forward.'" She nodded and the last bit of daylight disappeared. Edward wasted no time in throwing the pillow at her head. "We should move forward, then, right?"

"We're going to tomorrow…" she grumbled, throwing the pillow back.

"Ok, then, watch out." He smiled at her, and she shot a confused look at him.

"What?"

Act.1-End


	2. The Meeting and the Promise

Act.2-The Meeting and the Promise

Her footsteps made dull thumping noises against the ground as she ran. "Not good. Not good not good not-DAMMIT!" The blonde nun ran down a street, just to find a dead end. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the monster was gaining on her.

"Okay, new method!" She leapt onto a trashcan and shot at the lion/monkey combination. It growled and moved back in a recovery attempt. That gave her the time to run around it, out into the street again. Unfortunately, it could forget its own injuries very easily. The chimera dashed forward and she ducked behind a street light, narrowly missing an injury. She shot again, and then ran from her life. "God, I'm sorry if I offended you but PLEASE LET ME SURVIVE THIS!" She screamed as she attempted to escape.

"We still have an hour, right?" Edward asked. Alphonse nodded. They were already walking to the train station, about to embark on yet another new journey. All three of them had had their share of adventures, and so this was nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Ed had traveled in this world before he met Al and Az, but it was always worse to have to hear his own thoughts instead of having someone to talk to. Al, his brother Al, wasn't around anymore, and that was whom he had spent the majority of his life traveling with.

"Az, still with us?" Al looked back and saw her walking there, smiling. "Ok, just checking." Edward paused and then did the same thing as Al, starting at her. Al's back had turned by then. The girl blinked at him, her cheeks slightly red.

"Is something wrong, Ed?" She asked pleasantly. He smiled and shook his head, facing forward again. After it was over, he heard Al mumble something, covering it up with a fake cough. The golden-eyed boy glanced over at him.

"What was that, Al?"

"Oh, nothing." He just laughed and sped up slightly. Edward and Azmaria exchanged another glance, for neither of them had heard what he said.

"WATCH OUT!" The scream came a moment to late. A gun made contact with Edward's head, knocking him over. Azmaria made an odd squeaking noise and went over to him, supporting his head with one hand.

"It's bleeding…" she said. Edward didn't seem to care. He immediately rose, searching to destroy the perpetrator that had thrown the gun. What he didn't think would be there was a chimera, yet one was standing there.

"Damn it!" It lunged forth at them, and he held out his arm, hoping that this version of automail could hold out, too. The rest of his effort was concentrated on keeping Azmaria safe. He moved in front of her. "_You _are definitely not getting any closer to her, or anyone else."

"Edward, I'm going to…" He heard Azmaria's voice, the calm beneath the waves, and a moment later, he felt a familiar rush. It was the rush of returning power. There was no use in protesting now; he just needed to get the job done.

Clapping his hands, he slammed them onto a lamppost nearby, changing it into a weapon. Azmaria gasped, but he knew that he couldn't be distracted by it; it was his fault if she was at all suffering.

Edward leapt back as the chimera lunged at him. He swiped at it in an attempt to damage it. The creature growled at receiving a new wound and sought revenge. Now Edward was the target.

He jammed the weapon into the creature's mouth and it stopped moving. Had he just…killed it? The weapon was removed and the creature fell over limply. There was an eerie silence as they all watched the animal, checking for any and all remaining signs of life. After a long moment, they realized there were none; it was most definitely dead.

"Alright, who are you?" An annoyed female voice rang out. "What was that you just did? Alchemy? How are you doing it?"

"Hey, you could at least say, 'Thank…'" His words faltered as he finally saw the perpetrator's face. It was that sight alone that made him stop in his tracks and stare, eyes wide with shock.

This had happened to him many times before. Most would think that after the fifth time, the shock would wear off. For Edward, that was completely untrue. No matter how many times he saw a familiar face, he was still brought to a standstill from the shock that ran through his body.

The person standing in front of him looked exactly like Winry Rockbell.

The only difference was the short hair. As always, an unseen force kept his eyes locked on her. It was mostly disbelief that kept him there, but there was also confusion. He never knew exactly when something like this would happen.

* * *

"Winry Thompson, militia in the Magdalan Order." The blonde girl nodded, introducing herself to Al, Az, and Ed. In turn, they all told their names to her. By this time they were on the train, heading for London and hoping that there would be answers.

Most of the time, Edward kept a cautious eye on Winry. The similarity was uncanny and it was possible that maybe, just maybe she had an answer. Ten minutes after that thought initially took form in his mind, it was shot down.

"Were you using alchemy back there?" She asked him this in a cautious voice. When the contract had fist been made he knew it was a very rare occurrence, so he was not incredibly surprised by her confusion.

"Yes," A simple answer was enough although her eyes were asking more questions than her mouth was. Whenever this subject, the reason he could use alchemy, was brought up, he blocked it from his mind. There was vividness, a single memory, which always returned at the mention of 'contract.' Multiple times he had tried to push it away and it only returned to him, hanging around like a mist.

"Ah. Must be important, if you can use it…" Her voice trailed off. Important? Did she mean that the contract was important, if she knew anything about the contract? Or did she mean that the person in the contract was important?

At the mention of the word 'important,' he looked over to Azmaria. The young girl was resting peacefully, exhausted. Transmuting the weapon hadn't been a big thing, yet it still drained her of any energy. There was also the fact that it drained a part of her lifespan although a majority of it remained intact. Now her small body lay in an odd position on the seat. Edward idly wondered how she could sleep like that and coaxed her body into a resting position, putting her head on his lap for space's sake.

"She'll hurt herself sleeping like that…" He said mildly. Heiderich glanced over at the two and smiled wordlessly.

"Edward, don't feel so guilty about it," Al stated. Ed only stared at him.

"How can I _not_ feel guilty? I'm taking her lifespan in exchange for my alchemy." He felt a little pang in his heart as he said that. Thinking about someone dying was bad enough, actively doing it was hell for him. Sometimes there was no choice, like there had been today. It was normal for him to feel guiltier after those times.

"Well, I'll tell you the truth about something if it makes you feel any better." Al's offer was a comfort, although Edward was partially afraid. There was always the chance that he would say something like 'She's going to die soon anyway.' The blue eyed boy took a deep breath and he suddenly realized that it was not going to be something bad.

"What is it, then?"

"Well, think about it. She loved you enough to make this promise with you. In her eyes, you've already done more than enough for her. So don't feel so guilty." Alphonse smiled. For some odd reason, that all made a lot of sense.

"I haven't done a thing for her." There, the truth. Honestly, he had no idea how to react to the fact that he was loved. He hadn't ever been told someone loved him, and the stranger part was that he was killing her. How the hell could she love someone that was killing her? The question gripped his mind as Alphonse reacted with a slow sureness.

"You really are an idiot, Edward. You love her back." That was all it took.

"No, I don't!" It was a near shout, one that broke the peacefulness of that moment. But it also didn't feel right to Ed. He felt like he was lying and trying to get himself out of a bad situation. There was the feeling of dishonesty as he turned away, subconsciously hiding his eyes from the other person. His rage couldn't even sustain itself.

"Edward…" There was a moment's pause and then Ed felt Al's hand collide with his head. He muttered under his breath, cursing Al. At least Winry and Azmaria were asleep. That made this slightly more bearable. "You are an idiot." Ed looked down at Azmaria and felt his cheeks redden.

"No, I don't. She's not that attractive or anything." At that moment, she blinked her eyes open, staring wearily up at Edward.

"Ed, why are you here?" She sounded disoriented.

"We're on the train." He replied simply and stared out the window. A moment later, the statement processed through her mind. Suddenly, she was aware of what was going on.

"Ahh!" She sat upright quickly and glanced around. "Ed, I'm really sorry, I think I just fell asleep…" She trailed off as Edward put a hand on her head.

"Az, you were tired, don't worry about it." He watched her as she took out the pocket watch. At the sight of it, his stomach lurched. One glance would tell them both how much damage was done. The pocket watch was unchanged. "You're still doing fine," he said, and she managed a smile.

"A minute ago, I was dreaming about before the contract…" She said, yawning. He blinked and nodded.

"Things really were different back then, hmm?" The conversation ended at that, and they both found themselves trailing off into their own memories and locking themselves within them.

Act.2-End

A/N: Sorry, that sort of fell apart at the end. It might be sort of awkward, all this new information and such, but the story between Edward, Azmaria, and Heiderich will reveal itself over the next chapter or two. Not to mention you'll also find out exactly what a 'contract' is, and, most importantly, find out what Ed's been doing for two years! Oh, and as a side note, PLEASE Review. Reviewing is proof that people are actually reading this.


	3. Second Chances

Note: This is the long chapter and there's some Ed/Az hints and angst, then some random stuff. So yeah. I still don't own FMA or Chrno Crusade.

* * *

Act.3-Dreams, Reality, and Second Chances.

The place and time were all too familiar. He had spent so much time locked up in this one room that it was starting to become another home to him. On the surface, this seemed like another plain night in the basement, surrounded by familiar things. Only, what was going through his mind was different.

He glanced bitterly at the arrays he had spent so much time perfecting. None of them had worked, of course. Why had he believed anything they told him? Alchemy was dead here, why did he even try? They said that there was a way, but there wasn't. The Gate's power wasn't in this place, it was only back there, back where he belonged.

For what seemed to be the first time, his eyes trailed to a gun placed on the table beside him. It had spent days there collecting dust, ignored, but did it work? Carefully taking into his trembling hands, he inspected it. It was intact, and it seemed to work fine. If he were to use this on himself, maybe it would be a passage back to his own world. He had left that world by dying, maybe he could leave this world by dying, too. That, and the ones who were helping him here could go on with their own dreams again.

The air was eerily still as he lifted the gun and placed the front on his forehead. Right here, everything could end right here and now. Despite the sudden dash of hope, he was trembling violently on the outside. It seemed like such an easy option, to just leave, but at the same time something was holding him back. Consciously, he knew that this was the right thing to do and possibly the only thing to do.

A door's creaking faintly sounded in his ears and suddenly his body went cold, freezing its movements. "Edwa-" He heard her voice and also heard it suddenly cut off. No, this wasn't right, nobody was supposed to be here to see this! A sick feeling emerged in his heart as he suddenly forgot to breathe. Please, go away, don't watch. His thoughts were short commands, trying to shoo her away. Trembling fingers tried to pull the trigger, but they wouldn't move. Nothing would move.

Another body's warmth threw him into an odd weakness as he dropped the gun and fell to his knees. Her hands were in his, put there to try to take the gun away. As he collapsed, she caught him, slowly bringing him down. "Edward, please don't…" In his old world, he had never gone to this extreme, there was never a reason. In that world, he had support from his family and friends, although it didn't always show. Despite that, this was the first time someone he barely knew his own age clung to him.

He turned weakly and saw her eyes. She was the strange winged girl, the one who had seen both heaven and hell. This person was the one he had tried to avoid, yet she was here, crying for him and holding him. The idea couldn't penetrate his mind, but one idea could: he couldn't leave this world, not that way.

She broke the air again, this time with a groundbreaking statement. "I…I can make a contract with you." This had been stated before, but before, he hadn't intended to die by his own hand. Immeasurable desperation reflected in her eyes as she took hold of his hand again.

The next statement he made was shouted, possibly out of that same desperation. This time, it was unavoidable.

"I'll make a contract with you!"

* * *

Edward gasped for air and blinked around the train frantically. When had he fallen asleep? He blinked a few times and glanced around the car. Everyone else was fast asleep, undisturbed by him.

A hand moved from his forehead and his eyes met hers, just like in the dream. "Are you okay now?" Azmaria's voice was quiet, in an attempt to not disturb the others. Then he realized that his head was resting on her arm. He nodded and shifted slightly, causing her to wince softly.

"Oh. Sorry," He sat up and she twitched her arm.

"No, it's okay."

"I was hurting you. Really, you're too nice sometimes. If something's bothering you or upsetting you, just say it out loud so you don't have to worry about it anymore." He stared out the window and up at the moon as he spoke.

"Edward…you were having that dream again, weren't you?" It was pointless to protest, so he nodded. He felt a hand touch his, gripping it gently, lacing its fingers through his. Somehow, it felt warm and comfortable to him. There was a familiarity to it that he liked feeling. "It's okay, we're both still here." She laughed weakly. "I must have influenced you with my talking about the dream I had earlier."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm taking your soul. You're not even asking for anything in return, where's the equivalent exchange in that?" He wasn't sure where that question had come from, but he didn't need to take it back.

"I don't need to." At this point, she blushed slightly and moved her hand slightly. "Having you alive is what matters." Without warning, he blushed and turned away from her slightly. Their hands separated as he moved.

"It's not right. You should receive something for what you're doing!" He said sharply. To his surprise, she laughed lightly.

"I have. You opened up, now, didn't you?" By this time, his face was red and his back was turned to her so that she couldn't see. She couldn't get any ideas about this, that was for sure. Heiderich already had, but that was where it stopped. He didn't 'love' Azmaria!

"Maybe I did. You did, too." She sighed.

"Then I'll leave it at gaining nothing, but for a good reason." He finally calmed down slightly and stared at her again. The girl was still smiling at him, looking oddly happy. For an unexplainable reason, he looked over at Heiderich, who was asleep with a book spread open in his lap.

"He's studying again? Doesn't he know how to take a break?" Ed said flatly.

"Isn't there a certain person who always immersed himself in his studies, too?" The reply caught him off guard and Azmaria laughed lightly. It was true, he had studied constantly two years ago, but that was before…"It's almost morning, you know." A gentle hand pointed to the window, where the first parts of dawn were showing. Suspicious eyes scanned down the finger and arm, back to the girl's small form.

"How long have you been up?"

"Umm…" She blushed and looked at the ground, laughing nervously.

"Stupid…" He sighed. "You need to sleep as much as everyone else does. Here." He leaned back. "You can use me as a pillow this time."

"But, Ed…"

"Az." She smiled slightly, nodding and resting her head on his shoulder. "Anyway, it's my job to protect you," he added softly. "There needs to be some fair trade involved."

"…and so, we arrive in London." Winry glanced out of the train station, out at the near-empty streets. "Hey, what? There's nobody around."

"Actually, there are some people…" Azmaria replied weakly. She was right, in a way. A few people were wandering the streets, but there weren't that many. In fact, Ed hadn't realized how few people were on the train until now. Even the train station was less crowded than usual, which was odd.

"If this has something to do with the reason I'm here…" she grumbled, trailing off slightly. "Come on, I'm supposed to go to the London HQ, and you're all coming with me." She took a few steps ahead and then glanced back at them. Briefly exchanging glances, they followed her as she walked along the street.

"Didn't they tell you?" Edward asked, eyes up at the sky.

"Well, no…they just say 'a situation has emerged' and give the location, then we're expected to be there."

"Sounds familiar." He had always given out details of his past sparingly, and so was greeted by glances from both Al and Azmaria.

At its core, this world was no different from his own. That didn't change his own secret yearning for that which he had lost. In most cases, when confronted with an obscure memory, he just stared to the side, not letting anything reflect in his eyes. That was what he did as sudden memories of 'those days' returned again, like a powerful wave.

That was when they suddenly realized something. "Wait, Azmaria's gone," Heiderich said, glancing over his shoulder. Edward turned and saw her staring up at the top of a building, where two white birds were perched. For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw a faint outline of white wings on her back. His eyes were fooled, but his mind knew better. She had lost those powers a year ago, or at least the strength to use them. It was another thing he was at fault for.

"Hey, Az!" He cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out to her. The girl's form twitched slightly and her head turned. Somehow, she always heard him. It was too far to read her facial expression, but he could tell she had realized that she was behind.

Quickly, she ran over to them, tripping on the way. Heiderich blinked and walked over, taking hold of her hand and helping her up. Her eyes went to the ground as she lifted something, keeping it in her fist as they walked over to join Edward and Winry.

"Are you okay? That looked like a hard fall." Winry blinked, noticing a slight tear in Azmaria's stockings. The other girl stared as well and blushed.

"It wasn't that bad, I just forgot to pay attention." The golden eyed boy glanced at her hand and then put his on top of hers, gently prying at her fingers.

"What did you pick up back there?" He asked, a little smirk making its way across his lips. Strangely enough, she pulled the hand back and put it behind her back.

"It…um, it just fell out of my pocket, that's all!" If that had been at all convincing, he would have continued prying at her. This time, however, he just stopped and glanced at her briefly before continuing on. Usually, they didn't hide much from each other, except for maybe a few stray emotions-No, he didn't like her-but this was still odd. The look in her eyes was almost shameful as they walked along. What was it that she was so afraid of? It was frustrating him to no end, but he knew better than to explode about it.

"A dragon harassing people? That explains the lack of people outside," Heiderich commented. Edward couldn't help but notice that he hadn't even questioned the dragon. After what he had told his two friends, and what Azmaria had told the boys, they were all mostly shockproof. What was classified as a 'strange occurrence' was nothing to them.

However, the dragon gripped Ed's mind. Envy had transformed into a dragon before he had completely gone through the gate. If what had happened to him had happened to Envy, then the dragon could easily be Envy. The only question was, what exactly could homunculus do in this world? Alchemy was rare, and even then it could only be used under risky circumstances. Homunculus couldn't have their powers in this world, could they? The only possibility was certain circumstances.

"I doubt it'll be difficult to contain, but still…have you ever heard of the Thule society, by any chance?" At the mere mention of the name, Azmaria and Edward glanced at Al. A moment later, they all turned to look at Winry.

"What about them?" Ed was the first one to regain his composure after the slight shock. Winry cleared her throat and lifted a piece of paper.

"Apparently, they're an underground occult society in search of something involving Astral Lines. You at least know what those are, right?" The couple locked eyes briefly as she spoke. Their current status was proof they knew and understood. "I think that they want to somehow gather Astral power to open the portal to another world. That's the only explanation." She trailed off. Edward immediately shot Azmaria a glance. The girl blushed, trying not to look as if she was hiding a secret.

Fortunately, she didn't need to keep the charade up very long. He felt her body fall against his and tried to cover up any visible annoyance and worry. "She didn't sleep at all." His voice was deadpan and somewhat angry. Not only had they used some of the power, but she hadn't let her physical self rest in a while.

"We can find a place for her to sleep for now, until she wakes up again." Thinking over things quickly, Winry glanced at the door. "Here, carry her and come with me, we'll find somewhere." Edward nodded and slowly shifted her weight so that he could carry her in his arms.

"Edward, is it okay if I take her instead? Please?" Quickly, he turned his head and saw Heiderich standing beside him, glancing down at Azmaria with a heartrending expression. Again, Edward nodded and allowed him to lift her motionless body. Something wasn't right with him, did that dig up memories or was he just worried? Even though the blue eyed boy tried not to show much emotion, besides happiness, it always found a way to manifest itself in his eyes. Azmaria and Al were both guilty of excessive worry and Ed was convinced that it would one day kill them both.

While he waited for someone to return, he glanced around the office. It was clean, and this part didn't really resemble a church. This place, he knew, would bring back memories for Azmaria. She had been with her friends in the Magdalan Order HQ of New York. It was easy to remember because most of her stories revolved around Chrno and Rosette. Chrno was gone, but Ed had met Rosette once. They had had a brief dispute over 'when Ed was going to marry Azmaria' as Rosette had put it. This world's Winry resembled Rosette in an odd, twisted way.

Odd, he was getting help from a nun. It wasn't a bad thing, just one that was unexpected. Who ever knew that there were nuns that shot the living crap out of monsters? It was an odd thought that didn't seem to piece together. Maybe if he put a lot of thought into it, it would start to make better sense.

"She's okay now, Ed." Winry reentered the room, yawning. "Something's strange. Why is Alphonse so adamant about being with her?" Honestly, that wasn't a question that Ed could fully answer. He did know enough, however, to generate a truthful reply.

"He's afraid to lose people he's close to." While saying this, Edward had to cast his own eyes down. That was not only a reflection of Heiderich's soul, but also a reflection of his own. Now that he had spent two years growing close to those two, he had become intent on protecting them both from whatever could happen. The mere thought of having to leave them and return to his own world was nerve-wracking. This was exactly what he was hoping wouldn't happen. This was what tore his soul between two worlds.

"Then he doesn't have many friends," she added as an afterthought to herself. He shrugged and glanced over at that door again, wondering if Heiderich would need to be dragged out of the room.

Fortunately for everyone, he emerged only a few minutes later. There was still a dullness in his eyes, but his hair was slightly messier than before and he walked as if something might jump out and attack him at any given second. In Edward's eyes, this looked just like the typical worried expression of Alphonse Heiderich.

"Welcome back, Al," Winry said in forced cheerfulness. The boy nodded halfheartedly before taking a seat beside Ed. Almost immediately, Heiderich opened his book again and faked an interest on what the pages were saying. Discreetly, Ed glanced up at Winry, who took the hint and walked away for a moment.

"If you keep worrying like this, you're going to kill yourself," Ed commented bluntly, pretending to lack concern. Distressed blue eyes glanced up at him momentarily before the boy started to speak once again.

"She's sick again," he said softly. "I get scared whenever she gets sick, I don't want her to die like…" Apparently he was saying more than he had intended, and so the boy's mouth shut rapidly.

"Like? Al, I'm going to punch you in the face if you don't tell me." The older boy glanced over and was slightly surprised to see the sadness etched on his face. This sadness reflected something that went far beyond what was currently happening.

"Ed…you know I had a brother, right?" Ed nodded. "He…well, he died…three years ago and before we met…um, Azmaria was the only person left. She can't just die like that, it wouldn't be fair. She was there when he died and we started living together, just us, because I died when Brother did." Tears were forming in his eyes and Edward was violently reminded of Al, his real brother Al. When Al returned, if Al returned, he had friends to care for him, he had so much support even though he would be living with the fact that his brother had supposedly died. This Al only had a destroyed life where one person had made incredible sacrifices just to keep him moving. This Al was broken and only had one pair of hands helping him pick up the missing shards.

"Al, you love her just like you loved him…" It was ironic, how that was coming from Ed. Maybe these years had changed him. Kindness and gentle persistence had given him an understanding on love, although he wasn't capable of the feeling yet.

"No. I love her differently." A slight blush came to his cheeks, accompanied by a sad smile. Alphonse Heiderich, one person who shouldn't have been capable of loving, was. Despite watching those close to him leave and not having many others, he still allowed himself to feel things. That could be looked upon reverently, and that's how Ed viewed it. Maybe it was because he had always been cold toward people until these two had pried and chiseled at his broken self and put it back together.

"So that makes two of us." The thought didn't even pass through his mind, it just came out of his mouth. As soon as it was stated, he tried to take it back. "N-no, I didn't mean that! I don't like her at all that way!" The angry face returned and he crossed his arms.

"You do, Edward. That, and you also need her, don't you? You're not as strong as you claim to be." On impulse, Edward glanced down at his right arm. Hadn't it been broken before Azmaria's friend found a way to fix automail to operate in this world? No matter what front he put up, the remnants of his old self still remained. That self was stronger than this one. Did that mean that his soul was the same as his automail? "If you need her, you should have her, right?" Ed couldn't hide a frustrated sigh. Why was he pushing her on him again?

"You need to stop doing that," he said sternly. "Anyway, why are we fighting over her when she's obviously yours and there are much bigger problems at hand?" Heiderich opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again.

At that moment, a large crashing noise interrupted their trains of thought. The earth shook slightly, but then stopped. A few started people rushed to the windows, but Winry ran over to them.

"Sorry to interrupt your bonding time, but you both might need these," she said frantically. With that, she handed both of them a gun and then took her own. "It could be an attack, but so far I don't think anyone knows what's going on. Whatever it was, it's somewhere on the southwest side of this building, maybe by the dorms. We need to get ready to attack, and I'm sorry for pulling both of you into this."

"No, it's okay," Edward replied as he ran to one of the windows. "Dammit, half of the building caved in!"

"We better hurry up, then, before anything else happens!" Winry turned and started off in one direction. Ed and Al followed her through the hallways and out into the open space between the buildings. Strangely, there was nothing malevolent there. Whatever had attacked had left as quickly as it came.

Then a thought came to Edward's mind. "Azmaria!" Impulsively, he rushed forward and closer to the mess. Wasn't she in the dorms? Where was she? "Azmaria!" He cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting as loud as possible. As he drew nearer, he saw a small figure among the debris. "Damn…" He rushed forward and kneeled beside her. "Azmaria, are you okay?"

"You're…you're okay!" Strangely, she was acting as if he had been the one in danger. Weak arms wrapped around him as she pulled him closer. Her trembling body clung to him, either shocked or afraid. This was enough to position him to see a few other people who were injured. Other nuns and workers were already there and trying to assist in whatever way possible, helping those who were injured. Too bad Edward wasn't the type to trust this world's medical personnel.

Azmaria let go and turned to the others who were injured and Ed saw red stains through her dress. Her thoughts were evident in her motions, but he quickly held her back. "Az, you're hurt. Don't try to help them, you'll hurt yourself." Carefully, he lifted her. If she were more coherent, he would ask her about what had happened. By the look on her pale face, he figured this wasn't the best time to fish for an answer. That, and he wasn't exactly coherent himself.

"Ed, let me use the watch, you can at least repair it…" she said. Stubborn, wasn't she? Shaking his head, he managed to grin at her despite the worry that was taking over his mind.

"This job can be done by hand!" The smaller girl couldn't even manage a smile, she just leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Here, we can take her from here!" Winry said. Edward glanced at them and brought her closer for the shortest second. Then after a thirty second standoff, he surrendered her to the care of the Magdalan Order. Walking back to the debris, he wondered. He wondered about what had happened only a few moments before, he wondered about sacrifices, and for an unknown reason, he started to wonder about second chances.

A/N: Ok, wow. This chapter kinda sucked. Next chapter, though, you get to see more of Heiderich and then…yes, ROSETTE! So review, because…uh, it's the right thing to do and it generates love.


	4. Crossing Boundaries

AN: I don't own FMA or Chrno Crusade. Yay!

* * *

Act.4- Crossing boundaries

It didn't all come back immediately. Actually, it took a long pause and a bit of thought for Azmaria to realize she was lying flat on her back and that her last memory was being on the ground and something about Edward. The last thing she felt was worry, directed at her two friends. After the first moment of incoherency, this sunk in.

"Al! Ed!" She forced herself into a sitting position, completely ignoring the sudden pain shooting through her arm. It didn't matter that she was hurt, but what if they were hurt? That was what she needed to know.

"Azmaria, it's okay, they're fine!" The voice that replied came from her left. It was a female voice, one that sounded distantly familiar. Although she hadn't heard that person speak for over two years, she could always recognize it.

"Rosette, what are you doing here?" For an unexplainable reason, the sight of her friend didn't shock or surprise her at all. Smiling as best she could, she glanced over her shoulder at the older woman. Rosette was wearing a doctor's outfit and had her hair tied back. Azmaria stepped off of the bed and hugged Rosette.

"I'm a doctor now!" She grinned. "They needed a few here after what happened, so I came. Oh, and you might want to watch your head and arm. You landed hard and it might hurt for a few days." Even before Rosette had spoken, Azmaria was wincing in pain, placing her hand on her forehead.

"What happened anyway?" She sat down again and glanced up at Rosette, who looked over to the window.

"Nobody's sure, but the person who did it must have been a genius. It was definitely human-generated and it completely caved in that part of the building. Seventeen people were in there, too." The blue eyed woman shook her head, a look of disbelief on her face. "Hopefully they'll catch the person. Someone like that shouldn't be forgiven."

"At least everyone's still okay." Azmaria couldn't hide the tone of worry in her voice.

"Your friends are fine, they were helping clear up the debris and things like that." Still speaking, she began to check Azmaria's bandages. "Edward was protective of you. He kept asking if you were going to be okay. It reminded me of Chrono, but just a bit." Despite the fact she said his name, Rosette didn't even slow down at the thought of him. She never did, she would always move forward because she was sure she would meet him again.

"Well, he's a bit like Chrono, but not in the way you're thinking…" Azmaria's voice cracked and she blushed, glancing up at the ceiling and pretending to concentrate. She shouldn't have said that, now Rosette was going to ask her what she meant and then she would have to explain everything.

"Speaking of, I met with Al in the hall. He said you stopped singing two years ago. What happened?" That was the one question she had wholeheartedly dreaded. Reluctance filling her, Azmaria looked down from the ceiling and at Rosette.

"I stopped singing because of Edward, but that's not a bad thing. It's because he's from another world. We made a contract so he could find a way back but it wouldn't work." Her voice cut off and she glanced away again.

"I knew there was something important between you two." She laughed. "You two weren't in denial for a silly reason!" Once again, the younger girl stared at Rosette. "Or at least, Edward. I don't think he would admit how he feels about you if someone put him through six torture chambers and then chopped his legs off." Azmaria winced at the thought of legs being chopped off. It sounded painful and she was in enough pain, thank you very much.

"That's okay, he doesn't need to." A knock at the door caused them to both look up. "Who is it?" The door clicked open and then closed again as Heiderich walked through, eyes on Azmaria and Rosette. He smiled.

"Hi, Azmaria. You look much better now." He sat down in a chair beside her bed, placing his book on the bed.

"Hi, Al," both girls said. Azmaria couldn't hold back a smile of her own. This was proof that her friends were safe. If Rosette hadn't been checking on her, she would have hugged him.

"Azmaria, I need to take this thing off to look at your back. There's a deep cut there and I need to make sure that there's no blood dripping off of the bandage or anything, because that would be bad." Why did Rosette have to say those things? It made Azmaria feel a bit sick sometimes.

"Okay." She stood again as Rosette untied the back, allowing the garment to slide off and drop onto the floor. A light cough drew her attention to Al, who had gone dark red and was holding his book in his lap, pretending to be engrossed in the back cover. "Al, I forgot you're not a girl, I mean…" trailing off, she reached down and covered her front with the garment. She was wearing underwear, but it still made things awkward.

"You forgot he wasn't a girl? Azmaria, how did you manage that?" Rosette laughed.

"Well, I don't usually take the gender of my friends into consideration at times like these," she commented, now blushing herself.

"Okay. Well, I've finished here. There's no blood soaking through yet or anything, so that's good." Smiling, she helped Azmaria with the hospital gown. "I need to get going, but I promise I'll be back soon."

"Okay, Bye Rosette!" As the older woman left the room, Azmaria sat down on the bed. "Hey, Al, I'm sorry about that, didn't mean to surprise you."

"It's okay, you didn't mean to do it or anything!" Heiderich blushed as he spoke, eyes nervously darting around the room. This was awkward. Never mind, this was beyond awkward. Her friend's obvious discomfort was the one thing that was making it feel that way. Usually if an accident like that came up they would just brush it off. This time, however, Heiderich was the one having difficulty with that. "We used to always do that when we were younger, remember?" His thoughts seemed to be the same as hers as he laughed nervously.

"Except we were always told that it was wrong to take your clothes off in front of anyone that wasn't family." She blinked in memory. "But then we told everyone we were brother and sister, because…well, we had to be a family for each other." That was the truth. When they had met they were both thirteen. Al had an older brother who was in the war, Azmaria had no living family. They started living together after he had found the reason she was there. After that, Al's brother had died and things had changed since that day.

"You're right. We have Edward now, too." They went eerily silent for a moment, both thinking. Azmaria's eyes went to the window briefly as she thought about Edward. At first he had been nice, but he had made it clear that he didn't want to get too personal with anyone. Little by little, she and Al had torn down what he had built around himself. Things really had changed in two years.

"That's why we need to help him get back home, right?" The response was halfhearted. Neither of them wanted him to leave. He had become important to both of them, he had become another person that they were afraid of losing. She was barely aware that tears were forming in her eyes as she thought about it.

"It's okay, Az. Neither of us wants him to leave." Placing the book on the bed, he moved closer to her and hugged her tightly, saying nothing. In response, Azmaria hugged him and took a deep, sharp breath. Al couldn't see her cry, not right now. Biting her lip, she tried as hard as she could to hold back the threatening tears.

"Al, I'm afraid. One of these days, what if he leaves without telling us?" She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Although the thought bothered her, she still didn't want Al to see her cry over it.

"I don't think he would do anything like that." At that moment, the door made noise. Somehow, Edward always knew the exact moment to enter into something, even if he had no idea that he was doing so. The moment Edward walked in, she felt Al release her, urging her to go over to him. Strangely, she didn't move.

"Az!" Instead, he ran to her and held her as tightly as he could. She could feel his heart racing from surprise and joy as she slowly imitated his gesture, holding him and trying even more desperately to not cry. This time, however, she couldn't help it at all.

"Edward, I'm glad you're back." She tried to speak clearly through her breaking voice.

"Hey, it's fine now, we're all safe." He spoke softly to her, sounding somewhat confused. She moved one hand and rubbed her eye, trying to stop. Sighing, he shook his head a few times. "I'm sorry for scaring you." After a moment, his tone changed and he smiled a bit. "You know, you scared me earlier so I guess this means we're even." As he spoke, he backed away from her.

"Ed…" She didn't feel like joking at the moment. Once again, he signed and shook his head.

"You know, we can't have you in a bad mood for the rest of the night because of this." He took one hand and rubbed her head with it. "You look much better when you're smiling." The golden-haired boy blushed slightly, and Azmaria blushed in response.

"Azmaria, is this Edward? Oh, you're both blushing too, aren't you?" They both glanced over to see that Rosette had returned and was glancing right at them. Heiderich laughed lightly, which only made Azmaria blush even more.

"Rosette, stop!" Azmaria said, as Rosette and Heiderich laughed. Edward glanced at her.

"Az, who is this?" He asked.

"Oh, she's an old friend…remember, I told you about Rosette once?" Glancing from one girl to the other, he nodded.

"So, what's so special about Edward, Azmaria?" Rosette asked. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

* * *

It was dark, it was late, and he wasn't back yet. Envy was going to kill someone if everyone was scattered again. The dark-haired girl shook her head a few times, listening for the door. It was an upside to blindness, all she needed to do was listen. Although she was listening now, there was no sound being made. At this time of night, when her bomb-obsessed associate was out alone, that wasn't the best thing.

Finally, the door clicked and she heard the familiar, eerily cheerful voice resounding through the room. "Seventeen down, seventeen down…Take that!" The man's voice sounded entirely too cheerful, something that the girl knew was a bad sign.

"Okay, what did you do?" She didn't sound annoyed but she didn't sound happy either. "Don't say "nothing" because it obviously is something, Kimberly." Calling him that name would definitely irritate him.

"It's 'Kimblee,' not 'Kimberly!'" Yes, he sounded annoyed. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Hmm, what did I do, you ask? Well, it should be obvious. What organization is dedicated to destroying demons, and killed a few of my previous allies?"

"Magdalan Order, right?" The answer was obvious after the amount of clues he had given. "Don't tell me you did something? If it involved your handiwork, then I might hurt you." Kimblee was always creating fireworks and things, and delighted in revenge toward the Order.

"Mariana, you're getting it all very wrong. You see, Envy helped." At the sound of those words, the girl stopped. Okay, now this was getting stupid.

"Explain."

"Well, since Edward Elric was there and Envy is so bitter toward him, he thought it would be amusing to crash through the dorms where his little girlfriend was, only doing enough damage to scare him." Laughing slightly, Kimblee continued. "He did so and transformed out of dragon form the moment his work was done, so that nobody would see. They still don't know what happened, but they're guessing everything! Most people are denying that Envy could have possibly done it."

"Wonderful, really," Mariana replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Envy is reckless as always and for once, you had absolutely nothing to do with it. Interesting, how you call her his 'girlfriend.' You make it sound like we're fighting twelve-year-olds."

"Hmm, and you're still the sarcastic one." She heard a voice behind her and instantly recognized it.

"Hello, Envy. Back in your homu…nic…" she trailed off. Why was the word so incredibly difficult to pronounce and remember?

"You mean homunculus form? Yes, I am." Footsteps moved across the floor and nearer to her. "The demon's horns allow me to use my power again, perfect." From the way he spoke, she knew he was grinning the familiar, evil grin. "That, and they'll also help to join my old world with this world."

"That's completely set up, isn't it?" Her question felt forced. Yes, she wanted to see the two worlds join together as one, but it also meant that one could be wiped out in the process. What if it was their world? Would they all die? Whenever the Mariana in her brain thought of that, it flailed about and screamed 'I don't wanna die yet!' just as it was now.

"Of course, but we need to wait a day. It doesn't matter, we all have the Astral Lines on our side and we have the means of gathering them together here. All that power can match the Gate's, reopening it and then we can just use it to destroy it!" Envy sounded excited as he talked over his plans with the two standing before him.

"That should trigger the reaction that will eventually make the two parallel worlds combine and then our mission will be complete! If anyone suspects that we are the ones who did it, then we can simply destroy this place, which holds our evidence!" Kimblee sounded equally excited. Mariana simply sighed and leaned on the table. Kimblee, Envy…they were entirely too enthusiastic about the entire ordeal.

Act.4-End

AN: Well, uh…yeah. Look. Envy and part of his posse! We also saw Rosette again, Yay for Rosette! Then by next chapter, we get to see Al Elric and all of the people back in the other world, and some more really random stuff. And I won't be lazy about it! Actually, I might be…but, uh, yeah. Review please, I need to know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing really bad with.


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